


Better Late Than Never

by StubbornBeast



Series: Foray into the Supernatural [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Birthday Pie, Castiel Has A Daughter, Dean gets sad, Destiel - Freeform, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pining, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, but then gets happy again, dean loves his family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 03:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12027585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StubbornBeast/pseuds/StubbornBeast
Summary: Dean didn't know what this whole 'Grace' business was, but he was sick and tired of seeing it plastered onto his arm. Especially when the years came and went and he still hadn't found his soulmate.





	Better Late Than Never

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes, you just need a break from the bigger fics, you know?  
> Promise I didn't abandon Hold On Loosely, I just had this fic idea and well... here it goes.  
> Not exactly how I wanted it, but also fine with it? Who knows what I'm thinking these days, anyway. 
> 
> Feel free to pester me, talk with me, or prompt me at my tumblr, [here](http://stubborn-beast.tumblr.com).
> 
> Thanks for reading.  
> xoxo

It was the moment they'd all been waiting for. 

The pivotal point for every child was the eve of their thirteenth birthday, on the hour of their actual birth. It was a revered time for family to come together and wait with baited breath as the birthday child looked with trepidation or excitement for the words to appear on their arm. Those words would change their lives forever; those words would lead them to their soulmates. Mary and John stared on, encouraging smiles on their faces as their eldest son Dean blew out the candles in his birthday pie. Never cake – he preferred pie, and what a better year to indulge their boy? Even young Sam was staring on with interest in his round eyes, especially when the clock in the living room chimed the hour. Dean sucked in a sharp breath and glanced down at his arm, watching as the dark words began to rise to the surface, distorted at first, but quickly becoming legible. 

_It's all for Grace._

Dean didn't know what he was expecting, but there was a little ball of disappointment that settled in his gut while his green eyes scanned the words over and over again. Maybe he had been naïve to imagine that the words would have something to do with him? Or one of his interests, like cars or classic music? It's all for Grace stared back at him with not so much as a hint as to what it could mean or what 'Grace' might entail. 

His parents had been thrilled; their own words faded to grey upon their arms. Sam couldn't stop beaming, excited for his brother and anticipating his own thirteenth birthday, despite how it was still years off. Dean put on a smile and picked out the candles, letting the rest of his birthday commence as planned. The evening would consist of pie and ice cream, monster movies, and presents. While Dean was grateful for everything his family had done, he still couldn't stop himself from staring at the words and trying – quite desperately – to decipher them.

* * *

Most soulmates found one another between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. It was a time in life that people tended to broaden their horizons, move away from home, get college degrees and careers, actively searching for whoever might speak those words on their skin. When Dean turned eighteen, he was ready to conquer the world. He went off to college at KU and his search began. He went to all of the parties he could manage, talked to anyone he could in classes and in the halls, and desperately tried not to find disappointment every time a pretty girl opened her mouth to utter something other than the words on his arm. 

By the time he turned twenty-one, he'd included men in his search. It had been a hard topic to broach with his family, but Mary insisted that they loved him just the same. His dad had been rather gruff and silent about the subject of his sexuality, but Dean knew that John would want his son to find his soulmate – be it girl or boy or whatever. Feeling refreshed, Dean tried his best to be open-minded and listened for the phrase almost everywhere he went. The year passed slowly and as it drew to a close, the panic began to swell within Dean that maybe he'd _never_ find the one. What then? 

In his free time, Dean spent time exploring the religious side of the campus, trying desperately to look up ways that _Grace_ would be incorporated into their practices. He attended church more in those few months than he had in his entire life. When the religious side of things didn't deliver, he found himself looking up companies that might be associated with _Grace_. Like all of his current leads he'd followed in life... it turned up empty.

* * *

When Mary got sick, Dean dropped out of KU and moved back home to help care for her. John was struggling to do so and Sam was busy with his own education as he neared the end of high school. His parents had tried to protest, but honestly? Dean had made up his mind and moved out of his dorm the moment they'd gotten the news. He told his parents he could always go back; he could always finish out his degree at a later time, when Mary was feeling better, so they could all celebrate together. 

It was easy for Dean to find a job and help out. He started working with his Uncle Bobby at his salvage yard, finding parts and fixing junkers. It paid, but not very well, and soon Dean found himself searching for a second job. He convinced himself it was for being able to save up money – just in case – but in reality, it kept him from being at home and sulking, worrying over his mother. It took him maybe a week to find the job at the grocery store where he was a bag-boy and glorified shelf stocker during the night shift when only the high school dropouts and late working parents came shopping. It was menial busy work, but work nonetheless. 

Dean tried to save his money, but with his mother getting sicker and sicker, his father took to drinking. His first chunk of savings went to bailing him out the first time (and he was ashamed to admit he'd done it more than once) and the second chunk went to admitting his mother to the hospital when things really took a turn for the worse. He had almost enough saved up to try and pay off some of his school loans, but family came first. Family would always come first. And the more he worried about his family, the less he worried about the dark works inked on his arm.

* * *

It was a week after his twenty-fifth birthday when Mary died. 

The sun had effectively been sucked out of his life that day and the world itself felt a little darker. Everyone who knew her was at the funeral, giving their condolences, telling stories and trying to keep her memory bright like she would've wanted. But to Dean, there was nothing bright about this situation. His mother had died, his father was borderline drunk, and his brother was never around because of heading off to a fancy college in California. Oh, and nevermind that he'd passed the age of twenty-five without so much as a glimmer of hope of finding his soulmate. From that day on, Dean vowed to stop looking. He vowed to not let such ridiculous ideals to cloud his judgement. He vowed to focus on what was important and leave silly fantasies behind. 

Dean threw himself into his work. He picked up shifts and stayed away from home as much as possible. He stopped by occasionally to check on his dad and one of those days resulted in a much needed intervention about his drinking habits. Dean's current savings were poured into sending his father to a rehab facility a few cities over for thirty days. _It'll be good for him._ It was what he'd said over and over again as he stared at his father's disappearing back before getting into the impala and driving back to Lawrence. Between his two jobs, Dean did some drinking himself at the Roadhouse and started to exercise his liberties on the dating scene. He decided long ago that he wasn't a relationship-type of guy. How could he be, when everyone he happened to meet in the bar greeted him with something other than _It's all for Grace_? 

So, began the long string of fuck buddies. There were new girls like Cassie and Lauren, boys like Adam and Blake, and old flames that didn't mind playing around like Lisa and Benny. It was a shame that neither of them ended up working out – he rather liked them both, for different reasons. Then there was Michael. Michael had been someone Dean had broken his three-times-and-you're-done rule with. He'd gone back to Michael many times, so much so, that he'd grown quite comfortable with the man. It had, inevitably, ended in disaster. No one would ever want to date someone long-term who wasn't their soulmate. Dean was a fool to ever get his hopes up and think that things could change. 

Dean picked up extra shifts at the yard and got trained as a cashier at the grocery, glad for the cooler weather near the holidays so he could wear long sleeves.

* * *

Dean was twenty-seven when he got Sam's phone call. 

"I found her, Dean! I found her. Her name's Eileen and she's magnificent! She works at - " 

Sam had found his soulmate, the one he was meant to be with for the rest of his life. Dean was thrilled for his brother and promised to make sure he took some time off for when they came to visit in the summer. By the end of the phone call, he knew all about Eileen and how much Sam was ga-ga over this girl. In truth, she sounded great, and Dean couldn't have been happier for his brother. One glance down at his arm, seeing those mocking words written on his skin, and that seed of jealousy festered in his gut. No, no, he needed to be happy for Sammy. One of the Winchester brothers was going to be happy in this life, and Dean was going to make sure that Sam never got the idea that Dean was jealous of him. 

He was the oldest, after all – how shameful would that be? 

Sam and Eileen did visit that summer and Dean managed to get two weeks off to spend with them. Eileen was a delight to be around, just as good at teasing Sam as Dean was, and Dean was thrilled to learn that his happiness for them was nothing but genuine. Even after they were gone back to California and Dean's mundane life began again, he couldn't stop himself from smiling at the thought of one day being able to see them getting married.

* * *

It was another dull day at the grocery and a hot one in Lawrence. That meant that Dean couldn't get away with long sleeves, even in the air-conditioned grocery store. His t-shirt clung to his back and his feet were starting to hurt as he stared at the clock on the wall beside him. It mocked him with a dull ticking that he couldn't tune out today for some reason. He shifted his gaze towards the windows that faced the small parking lot and let out a rough sigh, running a hand through his short hair and wondering if Charlie would want to hang out when she got off work today. They could get a little further in their game if they pulled an all nighter - 

The squeak of one of their older carts redirected his attention as he stood up a little straighter and turned his head, meeting the bluest eyes he'd ever seen right in front of him. Blue eyes he didn't recognize, causing a furrow in his brow. His gaze flicked up and noticed a mop of messy black hair that looked thoroughly fucked and then it fell down to the chiseled jaw that was covered in a few days' worth of stubble. Holy shit. Who _was_ this guy? 

Dean's short attention span was out to play today, however, and he soon found his eyes wandering down into the customer's cart. The reason for that being that it was filled to the brim with _purple_. A purple tutu, dress, and striped socks. Purple streamers, balloons, plates, napkins, the whole nine yards. Dean must've looked confused or surprised because the next thing that caught his feeble attention was a deep chuckle. He sounded like someone who enjoyed whiskey on the rocks and used to smoke in his younger years. Maybe he had? For some reason, Dean really wanted to find out. 

… especially since the first item that had been placed on the belt was a pie from the bakery section with purple frosting on it, reading 'Happy Birthday' in curvy lettering. Someone who enjoyed birthday pie like he did? Dean shook his head and scanned the pie, realizing then that he'd been staring and gawking and not said a damn word to this handsome stranger. Instead of thinking of what to say, Dean spoke in typical Dean Winchester fashion, which generally involved not a lot of thought at all. "Sorry – I got distracted by all of the purple." 

_Smooth, Dean. Really smooth._

The stranger cracked a wide grin towards him, those gorgeous blue eyes sparkling, and Dean couldn't help but smile in return. The man had a great smile. 

"It's all for Grace." 

Dean froze behind the counter, blinking hard at the stranger before him, feeling like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. His arm was still outstretched, placing the pie to the side, and he spoke again without thinking. "What did.. What did you say?" 

"It's all for Grace, my daughter. It's her birthday tomorrow. She enjoys purple." 

This man was his soulmate. This man, this stranger, was his soulmate! Dean could've whooped for joy. He must've been grinning like an idiot because the stranger appeared a little confused, staring at Dean's face long enough that it almost made him uncomfortable. Almost. Then, something crossed the man's features that looked like realization, and before Dean could open his mouth again, he was distracted by the man hastily rolling up the sleeve of his light green button-down shirt. Dean looked down at that muscular arm – desperately avoiding any thoughts that could lead him down the gutter and truly out of focus – and focused on the words there, unsure he could smile any wider at what he saw. 

_Sorry – I got distracted by all of the purple._

"Do you know how... how long I've..." 

The man's breath was picking up and he looked at Dean as though he were something... special. The embarrassment that colored Dean's features was only natural, but it didn't bring his smile to fade. "Me too." He'd deny that his voice cracked when he spoke, deny it until the day he died, but he'd say it again if it meant making the man laugh again. The stranger had tears in his eyes as he brushed a hand over his forehead, still grinning like an idiot. Dean wondered if his cheeks hurt as much as his did. 

"I'm Dean. Dean Winchester." 

Dean held out his hand to the stranger for a proper introduction, hoping that his hand shaking was simply a figment of his imagination. The dark haired beauty took it immediately and shook it, his grip firm and strong. "I'm Castiel Shurley, and it's a pleasure to... to finally meet you, Dean." Dean didn't know how long they stood there, grinning at one another like idiots, but it was long enough for Dean to look down at the massive amounts of purple in Castiel's cart once again. 

"So... you have a daughter?" 

Dean began to scan the items – he was still on the clock, after all – and couldn't help but ask. If they were soulmates, that must have meant that Cas had been with someone before. Cas had some colorful embarrassment forming on his features that Dean thought was absolutely adorable, catching it just in time before the other man ducked his head. 

"Yes... I do. She wasn't planned and I just... I thought I was with someone who understood me. Maybe you know what that's like?" 

Pain filtered into Dean's chest because yes, he knew exactly how Cas felt. Dean grinned towards Cas as he rang up his last item, scanning his own employee card to get the man a discount. He looked nervous and hesitant, like he was unsure how Dean was going to feel about his soulmate having an attachment from a previous relationship. Well, Dean had to remedy that situation right away. 

"I can't wait to meet her, Cas." 

The grin he was greeted with was blinding. 

Dean was twenty-eight when he met his soulmate. The first thing he heard from Sam on the phone was: 'Better late than never.'


End file.
